Brussels, 06/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is trying to obtain "a global and satisfactory undertaking from the pharmaceutical industry", stated, last week, a spokesperson for the Community executive following a meeting, on 29 May in Brussels, between Commissioners Poul Nielson (development) and Pascal Lamy (trade) and representatives from six laboratories (BMS, GSK, Merck, Roch, Novartis and Pfizer). In addition to a discussion over the ways in which the industry could cooperate in the implementation of the Community action programme on the main transmissible diseases (AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), the Commissioners insisted with their counterparts for the industry to adopt a real common strategy in favour of access to medicines in the LDC. In this context, Mr Lamy underlined the need to clarify certain aspects of the TRIPS agreements on intellectual property, notably in connection with the obligatory licences that allow for the local manufacturing of vital medicines.
During a conference organised in Paris, on 31 May, by the French insurance company for foreign trade (Coface), Commissioner Lamy once more called on the northern industries to make gestures in favour of the development of poor countries, by naming in particular the sugar industry and the pharmaceutical industry. Raising our battle to better reconcile the international rules on intellectual property with the need to make medicines available to the most poor in the southern countries, he did not hide a certain irritation: These initiative are not always easy to have accepted by our industry. An irritation confirmed by an observer who underlines that the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), which until now remains silent over access medicines, was not invited by the two Commissioner and that the participants in the meeting all belonged to groups that have individually taken initiatives to make medicines available or to lower prices in the southern markets.
At EFPIA, they continue to consider a global strategy as not being useful and that the industrials have shown their good faith since the court case in Pretoria and the arrangement signed with the South African government. While insisting on the need to guarantee suitable protection of the OECD markets against possible imports of low price products in the developing countries, the EFPIA spokesperson continues to assert that the true problem is not access to medicines, but that of infrastructure and health staff available in these countries. An opinion that is not shared in the Commission, where they feel that they must not hide behind real problems delaying access to medicines. Either way Commissioner Lamy seems decided to maintain pressure, and a new meeting was called for 11 June, this time with the participation of the Presidents of Aventis, Mr Bertrand, who is also the President of the French Pharmaceutical Industry Trade Union, and GlaxoSmithKline, Mr Garnier. It must be noted that this meeting will arise exactly one week before the next TRIPS council at the WTO, on 18 June.
If the dossier on access to medicines remains a single point on the agenda of the major leaders of the pharmaceutical sector who must soon meet, their priorities remain the protection of intellectual property and the fight against parallel imports, it lies on the agenda of a special meeting (25-27 June) of the United Nations called by Kofi Annan to examine the financing of the USD 10 billion fund needed for the fight against AIDS in developing countries. This issue will also be raised during the G8 meeting that opens on 20 July in Genes.
European Parliament committee proposes to reduce duration of patents on vital medicines
By adopting an opinion from the Dutch Socialist Dorette Corbey, the European Parliament Industry Committee, which usually supports positions highly favourable to companies and innovation, also put across the impatience of the MEPs in the face of the absence of a global strategy on the thorny dossier of access to medicines. With a very small majority (19 votes against 17), it insists on the instrument that are represented by the obligatory patent, but moves in favour of a reduction in the protection of patents granted for a duration of twenty years and set within the TRIPS agreement for an average duration of ten years for a series of patented medicines, only in the field of transmissible diseases. The European Commission also invited to specify the conditions under which the practice of the rejuvenating process aiming to bring minor changes to a patented medicine whose expiry is imminent, would be possible. The Industry Committee supports the European Commission proposal according to which the pharmaceutical industry must apply "differentiated prices, but is not convinced with the mechanics of the system. It calls on the Commission to set rules governing the pricing policy of each medicine (generics included), to be based on the production costs, lower than the trade margin and to set the rules over the way in which receivers could act as donor agencies for the distribution of medicines in poor countries.
However, the parliamentary committee underlines that it is necessary to foresee the safeguard clauses so that the products sold at favourable prices in the poor countries are not re-exported to be resold in the rich countries. To do this, it proposes a separate packaging and a clear labelling of medicines aimed at LDC.
In her report, Mrs Corbey feels that the differentiated prices should be in place before 2006, when the TRIPS agreement enters into force in the LDC, and that as a result the imports of generic products would be blocked. She underlined that out of 1,450 new medicines marketed between 1972 and 1997, only thirteen were specifically targeted at tropical diseases and qualified a vital medicines. She recalled that, according to an Oxfam report, the average cost of production is situated at around 20% of the sale price, and after the deduction of all other costs - including research and development costs - the profit margin represents roughly 30% of the sale price. Also citing an article in which Jeffery Sachs stated: each year the pharmaceutical companies sell their anti-retroviral medicines in the developed countries for a total of around USD 10,000, while the production costs represents some USD 500 per year. The pharmaceutical industry may sell their products in Africa at these high prices and they would loose nothing by proposing to sell these products at cost price to donor agencies.
The opinion of Mrs Corbey was passed on to the development Committee, which is competent for the examination of the European Commission Communication on the acceleration of the fight against the main transmissible diseases in the framework of poverty reduction. In this context, we hardly see the Development Committee and its rapporteur, the British Conservative Bashir Khanbhai taking a more favourable position for industry.